Scorers: Wilson(2), Knight, Watson
So 14th February marked the two month anniversary of the 5s not having a game…there was a lot of skepticism on the famous AP 5s Whatsapp group the evening before as the rain continued to pour down….however we turned up at Alan drive with the pitches being in surprisingly good nick.
After not playing for two months we were bound to be a little rusty and playing against EBOG 6s who knew they could do a favour for their 5s by taking points off us were up for one hell of a battle!
We started slow and had to withstand some strong pressure from a stronger EBOGs team, but as always the whole team put in a huge effort to defend our goal and keep any attack testing Sievewrights goal. we slowly started to get a grip on the game with some nice passing down our wings and getting in behind the slow and suspect defence. Our first goal came through a deflected strike from Wilson, who again showed great distribution and always wanting to test the goalkeeper from range!
Unfortunately for us we completely switched off and conceded an equalizer straight away….No one closed down their impressive centre midfielder who sent a crashing drive past Sievewright who was unlucky not to keep the shot out! Everyone looked as if we had just lost the FA Cup Final as we are not used to conceding goals. However we picked ourselves up and got back straight at the opposition…making sure Parker and Dodimead got at their wing backs and finally we took the lead before half time with another cracking finish from Knight!
HT 2-1
Second half turned into a battle and a bit of a scrap but with the strength of the squad on the day made sure that we remained more stronger and more composed than EBOGs. Ramirez made a very impressive debut for the 5s when he came on at half time, adding pace, skill and great distribution. We finally got a bit of breathing space when Watson found himself romping into the box and finishing calmly past their keep….Duane’s celebration was anything but calm….He sprinted across to the corner flag and put in a Drogba style knee slide infront of the traveling away fans!
Fair play to EBOGs as they didn’t give up and put us under pressure and one thing that we shall have to get rid of for next week is giving very cheap free kicks away around the area as they got back into the game with a looping free kick direct into the top corner! If he meant it…great strike…but he definitely didn’t!
We finally took charge of the game when a corner was whipped in by Ramirez and Wright could quite bring it down to his right foot instead laying it off (unintentionally) to Wilson who smashed it into the top of the net!!
A huge victory in the end as we din’t play brilliantly but work rate and commitment was the best I’ve seen in an AP shirt as a captain this season! And even better news was that EBOGs 5s had lost to Norsemen…meaning with have a cushion at the top of 3 points and a game in hand…still we can’t get too excited yet…let’s just keep winning games and beat Old Parks next week!
MOM- Joe Robinson- Absolutely solid at the back! Didn’t let anything past him…probably playing the best football of his AP career currently.
TEAM: Sievewright, Doyle, Robinson, Wright, Rae, Dodimead, Lagos, Watson, Bowhill, Knight, Wilson. SUBS: Parker, Ramirez.
